Combining Various Parts of Speech
| Combining Parts of Speech | Rule on Hyphenation | Example |
| adjective + noun with -ed suffix | Hyphenate before noun, open after noun. | straight-laced Senator |
| coarse-grained surface of the table (before noun) | ||
| The surface of the table was coarse grained (after noun). | ||
| adjective or participle + noun | Hyphenate these compounds, which always precede the noun. | hot-water tank |
| ninth-floor office and living-room window | ||
| adverb ending in ‑ly + participle or adjective | Always open (never hyphenated) (this is a common mistake). | publicly traded stock (-ly adverb + past participle) |
| widely used procedure (-ly adverb + past participle) | ||
| rapidly increasing revenues (-ly adverb + present participle) | ||
| privately held corporation (-ly adverb + past participle) | ||
| newly rich nation (-ly adverb + adjective) | ||
| adverb not ending in ‑ly + participle or adjective | Open unless hyphenation needed to avoid ambiguity. | ever faithful friend |
| much loved friend | ||
| much-loved music (to avoid "much loved music") | ||
| less-appreciated art (to avoid "less appreciated art") | ||
| adverbs well, ill, better, best, little, lesser, least + participle or adjective | Hyphenated before noun, open after noun, open if modified by adverb. | well-known actress |
| The actress is well known. | ||
| the supposedly well known actress (modified by adverb supposedly) | ||
| least-desirable procedure | ||
| This procedure is least desirable. | ||
| noun + adjective | Hyphenated before noun, open after noun if ambiguity avoided. | fuel-efficient engine |
| labor-intensive business | ||
| user-friendly computer program | ||
| The computer program is user friendly. | ||
| noun + participle | Hyphenated before noun, open after noun if ambiguity avoided. | decision-making process |
| government-controlled economy | ||
| resource-depleted environment | ||
| The environment was resource depleted. | ||
| profit-making enterprise | ||
| compound adjectives of long standing | Hyphenate phrases of long standing before and after noun. | Before noun: devil-may-care attitude |
| Before noun: up-to-date review. | ||
| After noun: The review is up-to-date. | ||
| Before noun: over-the-hill athlete. | ||
| After noun: The athlete is over-the-hill. | ||
| phrase ending with preposition | Hyphenate before noun, open after noun if no ambiguity | spelled-out fraction |
| unheard-of defense | ||
| This defense was unheard of. | ||
| made-up compound adjective | ||
| The compound adjective was made up. | ||
| proper nouns used as adjective | Hyphenated, open, or closed depending on how the compound appears in the dictionary. | Afro-American family |
| Scotch-Irish ancestry | ||
| Austronesian heritage |
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Next: Chapter 11 - Apostrophe
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